I found Will and Jessie hiding behind an ice ridge maybe half a mile from the scientist's camp. With them, propped against the hard wall, were three others. All of them, instead of still frozen, seemed simply sleeping now.
Along with the boy I'd already saw, who I'd bet a million dollars that he was my half-brother, there was another boy, as well as a girl. The exact opposite of our group.
The other boy, who I knew must be the son of Aphrodite because the only other boy was definitely my half-brother, definitely looked like he could be the son of the goddess of beauty. He looked like how you'd think Apollo would look, or a son of his. If I didn't know that the two boys were sons of Hermes and Aphrodite, and that Apollo's daughter was, well, his daughter, then I'd have thought that this boy was his son.
He had sun bleached golden hair, and dusty tan skinned. He was as muscled as my half-brother, but with broader shoulders. His facial features were strong, and he fit the stereotype of 'Abercrombie and Fitch model' perfectly. He was what a single, middle-aged, romance-book-addicted woman would dream of, in other words. He, like my half-brother, also wore ancient Greek armor.
The third one was a girl, and although she was the daughter of Apollo, her skin was pale and her hair a warm, light brown. She had dainty features, but she still was beautiful. While I had thought that all children of Apollo were friendly, if a little stuck-up or motherly at times, she looked the exact opposite of 'friendly'.
They all seemed to be around the age of seventeen or eighteen, and altogether, looked like a pack of supermodels. Maybe the gods preferences back in Ancient Greece were 'Super hot and likely to have a kid who's just as hot'.
"Right when we got in… I happened to remember something." Jessie said, still panting slightly, her skin covered with a sheen of sweat. Her voice seemed vaguely annoyed. She wiped her upper lip before reaching into her bag, getting a water bottle.
"What?" I asked, settling down against the ridge.
Will was similarly tired, and caught on with what Jessie was doing and reached into his pack for a bottle of water.
"You were supposed to steal the bodies. You were given that sack by your dad." Jessie said after gulping down the whole bottle of water, and my eyebrows knitted together as I remembered the leather messenger bag Hermes had given me to put the bodies in.
I reached into my backpack, drawing it out from beneath everything else. I'd forgotten about it the moment it was packed.
"Hey, you were the one that said Will was supposed to steal the bodies." I shrugged, and Jessie glared at me, as if to say 'Don't-try-putting-the-blame-on-me'.
"They probably meant you were supposed to be a team. We almost got caught, thanks to your distracting skills, anyways." She said, glaring at the ground by her feet.
There was a silence for a moment, and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at Jessie for making everything awkward.
"What do we do now?" Will asked hesitantly after a moment, and I shrugged.
"Get going back to Dikson." I said, and he nodded.
Jessie sighed, closing her eyes before speaking.
"What about the bodies?" She asked, her voice lacking the venom it had been dripping with only moments ago.
"The bag, I guess. Or we could wait for them to wake up." I said, and we all turned to look at the bodies, as if to see if any of them waking up was an actual possibility.
They were definitely not under the spell anymore, since the son of Aphrodite was muttering about 'mistakes' and 'stupid'. The other two seemed to also be asleep, though neither spoke.
I nudged the son of Aphrodite with my foot; since he was the only one that I was sure was asleep instead of unconscious. His head lolled to the side, his mouth opening slightly. I nudged him again, and his eyes flickered open.
Immediately, he jumped to his feet, his eyes unfocused. He drew a sword from the sheath at his belt in a fluid motion and when his eyes focused, he seemed to see me first. He darted forward, and it was by sheer luck that I managed to jump backwards before he cut a hole in my neck.
"Dude!" I yelled, and his eyes narrowed. I realized he probably didn't know English, and switched into Ancient Greek, "We're demigods also! We were sent on a quest to save the three of you." I explained, using more hand gestures then I usually would, probably since my heart was beating like hummingbird's wings from almost being decapitated.
Being almost intentionally killed by a sane person can make you a little shaky, if you know what I mean. Then again, you probably don't know what I mean.
"Who are thou parents?" He asked suspiciously, and it took me a moment for my mind to translate the Greek. By the time I understood what he had said, Jessie was already responding.
"My mother is Aprodite, as is yours." She said, and the boy turned to look at her. He studied her for a moment, as if to see if she were pretty enough to be a daughter of Aphrodite, before looking to Will. Will explained his lineage as well, and then I did also.
"Swear it on the River Styx." He looked from Jessie, to Will, to me. We all repeated our lineage before swearing on the river that it was true, and he seemed satisfied.
He introduced himself as Flavius, along with a title longer then I could remember, before sitting back down where he had been. He still seemed a little unsure, which was to be expected, and we all stayed silent for a moment before we began actually introducing ourselves, instead of just our parents. He seemed mystified by our names, but didn't question them.
And then came the part where he noticed our attire, and 'Odd tools', and like in every movie, book or paper about how the future-meets-the-past, or vise versa, we got into a long discussion filled with names, 'What?'s, confused looks, questions, and multiple sighs and groans.
A/N
The incredibly late update is due to my laziness, and a lack of interest in this story. My interests moved on, but I'll continue with this story until I finish it, so don't be worried that I'll quit it or put it on hiatus.
I'll try to get back onto my regular updating schedule, but I'm not making any promises. The updates will probably be every week, instead of twice a week, and sometimes (maybe) not even that.
As I said before, my interests moved on, and I've began an Inheritance Cycle story – which means I'm now writing three stories. This one will still be main story still, so if I update any of my stories, it'll most likely be this one.
Thanks for reading, and I appreciate all your reviews!
-Ash Colored Wings